The Audacious Girl

 The Audacious Girl

Germany

1.

In Pinno some people lived directly next to the churchyard, and when their daughter went to the spinning room in the evening she always had to walk through the churchyard. The young fellows teased her about this and told her that something would happen to her if she continued to walk by herself through the churchyard. One evening when she was once again walking through the churchyard on her way to the spinning room, she saw a figure sitting on a grave. She thought it was one of the young fellows trying to frighten her, so she went up to the figure and ripped something off its body. She ran with it to the spinning room and said, "You tried to play a trick on me, but you failed! I took this away from the fellow who was trying to trick me!"

The other spinning girls said to her, "That is a burial shroud that you have in your hands."

She was frightened as she made her way home. The young fellows and girls went with her, and nothing happened to her.

In the night something knocked on her window, and a voice called out, "Give me my things. I'm freezing.!"

She was afraid to give the things back, and there came another knock. Then she opened the window a little and reached the things out with a stick. But outside no one took them.

Every night the knocking and the calling came again. Then the girl went with her mother to the pastor and told him about it. The pastor said that he and the teacher would go with her to take the things back to the same place where she had taken them. When all three were standing at the grave they heard the girl cry, "My Jesus! My Jesus!"

Suddenly the girl disappeared from their midst. They found only a few tattered pieces of her clothing lying there next to them. The Evil One had torn the girl apart and taken her with him.

2.

In a village there was once a very audacious girl who wanted to have something from the churchyard, for such things were considered to be of value. The girl went to the churchyard at twelve o'clock in the night. There she saw a white figure sitting on a grave. It had a white cloth wrapped around its head. The girl unwrapped the cloth and took it with her.

The next night the white figure came to the girl's bed and wanted the have the cloth back. This happened every night. Then the frightened girl ran to the pastor and told him about it. He said that she would have to take the cloth back to the place she had taken it from.

The following night the girl went to the churchyard. The white figure was sitting on the grave again, and she wrapped the cloth around its head. When the girl had done this she received a slap that knocked to the ground, and she was dead.